The Monticello High School drill team captured the second place trophy at the 1A, 2A, 3A state drill team championships last Saturday at Utah Valley University. The Buckaroos captured second place in all three categories, Military, Dance and Character to grab the second place state trophy. First place in all three categories and overall went to the Duchesne Eagles, for the 11th year in a row.

Eleven years ago, Monticello didn’t even have a drill team. The drill team/cheer team was started about five or six years ago with Sydney Young heading up the cheer squad and Monique Christiansen leading the drill team.

Its a long season for drill and cheer too, as they start in the fall and go until basketball is over, longer than any other season. And many of ther girls participate in other sports as well, such as cross country and volleyball. Several of the team can even be seen playing in the pep band at some games. Despite all that and thanks to two hour practices every for many months, the Buckaroo Ladies have made a quick climb to the top, especially in 1A, where Duchesne wins almost by default every year. Congratulations to the girls and coaches.

SportsmanshipSportshorts noticed a great act of sportsmanship at the Drill Competition. Immediately after the awards ceremony concluded, the San Juan drill team threaded their way through all the drill teams seated on the floor of the UVU Center to congratulate the Buckaroos on their second place finish. There was lots of happy smiles, high fives and good feelings all around.

BasketballBuckaroo senior Tanner Eardley scored a career high 26 points Friday night in Monticello to lead the Bucks to another Region 19 win over Pinnacle Canyon Panthers, 74-23.

The win was a good one for the Buckaroos, after they let one slip away Tuesday night in Monticello to the San Juan Broncos, 63-60, in a game that had it all, almost.

San Juan led early, only to have MHS forge a nine point halftime lead which they stretched to 15 at one time in the third quarter.

SJ’s Diquan Lopez led a furious SJ comeback, which saw MHS not only give up an 11 point lead but fall behind by 10 late in the fourth quarter after a 28-6 Broncos run.

Then with just two minutes left and trailing by 10, the Bucks staged a huge rally of their own, getting within one and trailing by three points in the final seconds only to rim out a desperation three point heave by Dillon Maughan at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime. Take a big breath right here before you read on!!

Lopez finished the game with 23 points and three treys. He scored 11 points with all three treys in the fourth quarter alone as the Broncos rallied. Max Morley contributed to the Broncos 29-point fourth quarter with seven while Tyrel Pemberton added nine 4th quarter points.

The Broncos were eight of ten from the free throw line in the fourth, with the only misses coming with just four seconds left, giving the Bucks time for the desperation heave. Morley had 15 points for the game and Pemberton 14.

Austin Maloy had an outstanding night for Monticello with 28 points and four treys, but it wasn’t enough. Sheldon Black tossed in 14 points and two treys while Tanner Eardley added two more three pointers and 12 points.

The Bucks rebounded against Pinnacle, winning going away. The first quarter started slow for the Bucks, as they made just five of 15 shots to lead 13-7. Austin Maloy made two treys to start the game but the Bucks went cold the rest of the quarter.

Eardley started to get untracked in the second quarter and finished the half with 16 points as the Bucks outscored Pinnacle in the second quarter, 21-4 to take a 34-11 halftime lead. Eardley and Maloy both had ten more points each in the second half as the Bucks found the range from the three-point line. They finished the game making 12 of their last 14 shots to seal the win.

In addition to scoring 26 points, Eardley added nine rebounds and three steals to the Buckaroo effort. Maloy finished with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Dillon Maughan had nine points. Sheldon Black scored eight points as did Matt Freestone, who also had two blocked shots. The wins and loss run the Bucks overall record to 11-2 and 6-0 atop the Region 19 standings.

The Lady Bucks ran their region record to 5-1 and 12-5 overall with two region wins in one week. Tuesday the girls raced to a 31-11 halftime lead on their way to a 61-36 win over Monument Valley. Zoe Chadwick had the range for the Bucks with 22 points. Atlanta Black scored 17 while Aapree Sheeran and Mary Beh both added eight in the win.

Friday night the Bucks beat the Panthers from Pinnacle Canyon School in Price by a similar 62-32 score. The Ladies from Monticello threw a press on the Panthers that was brutally effective, getting 17 steals and forcing even more turnovers to handily beat the Panthers.

Mary Beh was particularly effective inside with 16 points, three assists and four steals. Black added 13 points, six assists and four steals, too. Allie Maughan had nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals to go with Tawna Well’s eight points, seven rebounds and two steals. The Buckaroos had 14 assists as a team on 28 baskets as they shot 52 percent from the field on 28-54 field goals. Saturday’s game with Navajo Mountain was canceled for both the boys and girls on account of bad roads.

WrestlingWent to the Buckaroo wrestles the other night. And what an awesome night it was, 27 matches against opponents from Moab, Monument Valley and Whitehorse, with Monticello winning 22 of 25 matches, two hours of good ole Buckaroo wrestling!

Most folks left feeling very entertained and satisfied with two hours of wrestling, the most matches I’ve seen at MHS in years. With nowadays wrestling schedules set with tournaments nearly every weekend, and rightly so since every wrestler is guaranteed several matches, the individual duel match isn’t matching up, especially when one of the teams only has 7-9 wrestlers as was the case this year in duel matches against San Juan and Dolores.

Monticello received five forfeits in its duel with San Juan the very next night in Blanding. Until last Wednesday, there were several Buckaroos that I hadn’t even seen wrestle this whole year. Longtime Buck coach Kent Adair may be on to something with the “Packed Duel”, several small teams together to guarantee at least one match for everyone everytime.

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